


Taken Over

by KeziKate



Series: Taken Over by Love and Monsters [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Action & Romance, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Game: Resident Evil 2, Horror, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Romance, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2020-04-05 21:06:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19048402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeziKate/pseuds/KeziKate
Summary: After your car breaks down in the middle of the night on a deserted highway, a handsome stranger offers you a ride to the next gas station, where your life is forever changed. You must fight for your life against creatures you never even saw in your nightmares. Battling side by side with Leon Kennedy, you fight to survive the horrors of Raccoon City. Despite the terror, you can't help but be grateful to have found a companion like Leon.





	1. Broken Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While in the middle of nowhere, because of course, your truck breaks down and you are forced to either walk to the next gas station in the rain, in the dark, or sleep in the truck. That is, until a snarky stranger offers you a lift. Praying to the universe that he's not a charismatic murder, you gratefully accept the offer. And thus the adventure begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my first fanfic! Updates will be slow unfortunately, my perfectionist ass never knows when to stop. I'm sorry for any spelling/grammar errors, my _shy_ ass is afraid of using people I know as beta readers.  
> You can find me at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kezikatescribbling where more of my obsession with fictional characters shows, and I occasionally post something funny.
> 
> Side note for my Dad: You are not allowed on my tumblr. Don't click the link. You don't want it. Trust me.

The long, empty road stretches in front of you, illuminated only by the headlights of your truck, not a streetlight in sight. The radio fizzled out hours ago, so you sit in silence, lulled into a trance by the soft roar of the engine, the sound of the tires on damp pavement, and the dark surroundings whistling by outside the windows. You let out a sigh, looking at the time on your watch. It's late, or early depending on how you look at it. You've been on the road for what feels like years. In reality it's only been a very long day.

Your muscles run on autopilot while your thoughts wander, your unconscious mind taking over as you drive down the empty road. Ever since the start of the trip you have tried desperately to keep the bad thoughts, the memories, the hurt, from coming to the surface. You played games in your head, just silly car games like licence plate bingo, or going through the alphabet by finding words on street signs. The radio helped with the distraction, and for the most part you had been able to keep your mind clear. But after the radio had died, it was all you could do to keep your emotions at bay.

The faces of the ones you left behind start to swim in front of your face as your eyes start to fill. Your breath hitches and you swallow a sob, clearing your throat. You shake your head, trying to dispel the sudden onslaught of emotion, gripping the wheel until you hear the leather creak. You are ripped from your memories when a loud thunk, thud, bang erupts from the truck.

Cursing, your hands grip the wheel before you slip off the road. You hit the brakes and skid to a stop on the shoulder. Breathing fast, heart pumping, you close your eyes and try to calm down. Breath in. Breath out.

It takes a few minutes, but you finally feel your heart rate slow, your breathing come under control. You open your eyes and let out a frustrated huff of air. Great. Now what. You grab your backpack from the passenger seat, rifling through the pockets, looking for your flashlight. You find it, and your work belt which you slip through the belt loops on your jeans and buckle it, then slip the flashlight into its spot. You search the other pocket, getting out your hunting knife. You secure the sheath onto your belt so that it is above your right back pocket, out of the way of arm movement, but within easy access of your dominant hand. You brace yourself, then quickly open the door and jump out into the rain.

You walk around to the front of the truck, carefully unlatch the hood, and push it up. Smoke billows out and you lean back, coughing at the horrible stench. God...the wires are very nearly melted, giving off a sickening stench. "Fan-fucking-tastic!" you scream into the empty night, slamming the hood back down in frustration. At least the engine doesn't seem to be in danger of catching fire or exploding, you thought grimly to yourself. So you get out a road flare from the tool chest in the bed of the truck, strike it to life and walk back down the road a ways and drop it on the ground. Turning back, you march to the truck, wrench the door open and jump back in, slamming it shut to protect yourself from the rain.

Taking a map out from the glove box, you open it up to the road you're traveling and try to figure out where you are, hoping there is a gas station or some kind of civilization somewhere nearby. Tracking back to the nearest mile marker you remember seeing, you groan looking at how far away the city is. It would take the rest of the night to walk there. In the dark. In the rain.

"Dammit!" You yell, hitting the steering wheel with your hand. Even if there were a gas station before the city, it would probably still be a long walk. "Why didn't I pack my rain coat. Uuugh". You let out a long breath of air and lean your head back against the headrest. At least you had your leather jacket with you, providing a small amount of warmth. You pull the collar up and snuggle in for what is sure to be a long night. The last thought you had was hoping the rain would stop before morning, as you drift off into a light sleep.

## 

🙠

Your eyes flicker open, a sleepy moan leaving your mouth as you stretch and yawn. Looking around you see what woke you. Headlights from a car coming up behind you, traveling in the same direction you were before your truck..."Ugh. Dammit" you groan, remembering the unfortunate events that led to you napping in your car on the side of the highway. 

The vehicle was far enough away that you had time to consider what to do. The road flare was still burning, so they would know you were there. What if they stopped? Would they offer to help? If they did, did you want to accept help from a stranger? Who knew who they might be. Maybe you should just tell them to keep going, and stick to your plan of setting out in the morning in search of a gas station.

The thought of sleeping in your truck for longer than you had already makes up your mind. This truck was built for work, not comfort, you realize massaging your sore neck. The car is close enough now that you can make out the shape of a jeep, its headlights bathing the road in light. You blink, your eyes adjusting after sitting so long in the dark. The driver approaches, slowing down to a crawl once they reached the flare, rolling toward you slowly. You sigh and open the door, smiling and waving as you jump down from the seat. The driver pulls up alongside you and stops. The passenger side window rolls down to show a young man whose face is mostly shrouded by shadow.

"Need help ma'am?" Asks the mystery gentlemen. 'He has a pleasant voice,' you think to yourself, 'doesn't mean he's not a serial killer though.' Your thoughts go to your knife, resting in its sheath on the back of your belt. You look around and see nothing but wet pavement in the both directions of the road. Alongside it is bare landscape as far as you can see in the dim lighting from the strangers headlights. Letting out a huff of frustration you turn back to the man in the car. 

He seems to be attempting to keep a smile off his face, unsuccessfully. 

"What?" You ask curtly, annoyance evident in your tone. The man openly smiles now taking in the frustration on your face. 

"I'm sorry. I know you're probably not thrilled at the idea of trusting a random stranger in a car on an empty highway, but don't worry, I promise I'm not a psycho". He says, holding up his hands, as if to show he's not holding a weapon. You remain unconvinced. 

"And I'm supposed to believe you? I'm pretty sure a psycho wouldn't mind lying to a helpless woman on the side of the road."

The man lets out a chuckle. Your heart skips a beat at the sound, and a tingle travels to your fingertips and toes. The warmth in the voice instantly disarms you, calm spreading through your body. You've never heard such an inviting laugh. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I am a cop." You detect a hint of pride in his voice. This must be something he values in his life. You decide to hold back your natural tendency to tease people, guessing he wouldn't take kindly to mocking his profession. Especially since you need his help. 

"That does make me feel a bit better actually. I was wondering if you could give me a ride to the next gas station. My truck is done for, so I'll need to call a cab."

"Sure thing, hop in," he says, unlocking, then pulling the latch to open the door. You quickly grab your duffel bag, filled with your extra clothes and travel necessities, and your backpack. Shutting the door, then after a moment of thought locking it, you walk back to the jeep and catch the doors edge, jump into the passenger seat, and shut the door behind you. 

"How can you be so sure I'm not some killer maniac?" You throw him a playful grin, raising one eyebrow. He looks at you thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

"I guess I don't," then his face breaks into an adorable smile, "But I think I'll take my chances." You look away smiling to yourself. "Besides, I think I could take you," he adds after a moment of silence. Your head falls back as you let out of laugh.

"Ha! For a cop you're not that great at reading people. I could take you down in two seconds!" It's true that you could hold your own in a fight, but you're sure it wouldn't be that easy. Looking at the man's broad shoulders and subtly outlined muscles through his jacket, as well as his air of confidence, he probably would win in a fight. But your aren't about to let him know that. Besides, it's too much fun bantering with him.

"I'd like to see you try," his words are almost ominous, but the smirk on his face and the way his eyes burn as he holds your gaze makes you wonder what he's thinking. If he's intentionally flirting with you, it's working. You can feel your heart fluttering against your chest. Not sure how to respond, you tear your eyes away from his and give a non committal hum.

"Buckle up, it is the law after all," he says with a quiet chuckle. You resist the urge to stick your tongue out at him, instead silently obeying, grabbing the seat belt and clicking it into place. As you do he cautiously pulls the car back onto the road. "My name's Leon by the way. Leon Kennedy."

"[Yn] [Ln]," you respond, settling into the seat. "Nice to meet you".

"Likewise."

Leon focuses on the road, slowly picking up speed. You take a quick glance at the truck behind you, letting out a long breath as it disappears into darkness.

Well, looks like you make a new friend. Leon.


	2. Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While traveling to the nearest gas station, you and Leon get to know each other.

You sit in silence for a while, with nothing but the sound of the radio in the air. It seems to be some kind of punk rock style music. You nod along to the beat, looking out the window, watching the road slip by. Your mind is running, wondering what you should do. Should you say something? You don't want to bug him. Maybe he likes to just listen to music. The last thing you want is to get kicked out into the rain. Although that would be an extreme reaction to an attempt at conversation. Just as you decide to say something, Leon clears his throat. You look over at him, and his face looks to hold an expression showing the same level of awkwardness as you feel. You smile a little, encouraging him to speak.

"So, (Yn), what happened to your truck? I could smell it a mile away." He laughed a little glancing over at you, a smile in his eyes.

"I'm not really sure, but that old thing has been just waiting for the worst time to die on me, and it certainly did." You roll your eyes at the ridiculous situation. Leon laughs, and you smile in response. Now that you are in the car with him you can see more of his face. He has a beautiful shade of blue-gray eyes, dirty blond hair, and a warm smile. He's...kinda hot, you think to yourself. He looks over and smirks. Oops, you've been staring. Clearing your throat lightly you look back out the window, ringing your hands as you feel the heat creeping up your face. You hope the light is dim enough that he cant see it. Either way he chuckles and turns his eyes back to the road.

"So, where were you headed, before your truck died I mean?" Leon asks politely. You bit your lip, considering for a moment whether of not you should tell the truth. After all, you've only known this handsome stranger for a few minutes; but you decide you're already in the car with him, silly to lie about your destination.

"Raccoon City. I was on my way to meet up with my uncle's lawyer" you say, trying to keep emotion out of your voice, but by the look of Leon's face, you didn't do a very good job of it.

"Oh yeah? What for?" he asks, but before you can respond he looks stricken and stammers out "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to be nosy, you don't have to tell me. You just seemed kind of upset," his face takes on an embarrassed look before he bites his lip and looks away.

You laugh at his expression, "No it's ok," you respond, "It's just...Well, my uncle..." you struggle to find the words. You don't exactly want to go into your whole life story with a guy you just met. You look over at him and see a look of genuine concern and interest, and before you know it, you're telling him the whole situation.

"See, when I was little, well, my parents weren't the best people. They didn't take care of me and said some pretty cruel things, and they threw me around a little. It could have been worse, but I was just a kid, and I didn't understand why they hated me." You glance at Leon out of the corner of your eye. He has a frown on his face, his eyebrows knitted together. He seems intent on listening, glancing over and nodding, encouraging you to keep going.

"Well at some point my uncle-my dad's brother-found out how they were treating me and threw a fit. He filed for custody and my parents gave it to him without a fight. One day when I was around seven, he showed up and told me he was going to take me home with him. I was pretty confused, but I was so ready to be away from my abusive parents I didn't even ask any questions. He helped me gather my stuff into a bag and carried it out of my room. Neither of my parents even said goodbye to me. My dad didn't even turn around from the table. My mom looked at me with this blank look in her eyes, like she didn't even know who I was. Then my uncle took my hand and led me outside, to that same truck I was driving earlier." you smiled as Leon looked over. "That truck was old back then, and that was over a decade ago," you laugh, and Leon joins in.

"After that, I grew up with my uncle on his farm. It was hard work. He taught me everything. How to shoot, how to hunt, how to tie every kind of knot you could ever need to know. It wasn't easy, but he loved me. And that was more than my parents ever did," your smile faded as your memories play through your mind. "He took care of me for fourteen years, and I earned my keep. But then he got sick. Cancer. He died about six months after he was diagnosed. That was a few months ago now." Tears pricked in your eyes, your voice thick with emotion. Your heart beat out a few sad, slow thumps, thinking of the man that raised you.

"I'm sorry," Leon said quietly. You look over to see him looking at your face, sympathetic eyes searching yours.

"Thanks. It's been hard, but I'm ok," you say, clearing your throat and wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. You sniffed and laughed a little "he would hate that I was crying. He always said tears were a waste of perfectly good water" you laugh some more, hearing Leon chuckle next to you. 

"But anyway," you continue your previous thought, "I'm headed to Raccoon City to see my uncle's lawyer, finalize funeral arrangements and execute his will..." you drift off in thought, thinking of the note the lawyer sent you.

Leon must have noticed your change of mood, "What's wrong?" he asks. You suddenly come out of your thoughts, startled. 

"Oh, just thinking of the letter the lawyer sent me," your brows knit together. "He said that he had something else he needed to talk to me about. Something urgent that he didn't want to say in a letter or over the phone. I don't know what it's about, but he sounded really freaked out. In all the years I've known him, he's always been cool and collected. I can't imagine what could have him so worried."

Leon looked at you with a thoughtful expression. "Well, if you need any help from the other branch of legal work, I know a cop willing to help." He smirks as he finishes the sentence.

Touched at he thoughtful gesture from a stranger, it takes you a few moments to respond, "Thank you," you say sincerely, "that means...more than you know."

Your words hang in the stillness of the moment, the air charged with emotions you aren't sure how to express. He clears his throat after a bit, "no problem," he says quietly.

The two of you sit in silence for a while, unsure of what to say after that heartfelt moment. "So," you say into the quiet air, "what about you? Where are you headed?"

"I'm actually going to Raccoon City too. I was supposed to start a week ago at the Raccoon City Police, but they told me to stay away. I haven't heard from them since. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to check out whats going on." Leon frowned lost in thought. Worry pinched his eyebrows together and his hands tightened on the wheel, knuckles turning white.

"Hey, I'm sure they're alright," you say putting your hand on his arm. He glances at you, surprised at the touch, but his hands relax a bit on the wheel. "Maybe there was some kind of power outage?" You state unconvincingly. But that wouldn't explain why no word had been sent. They would still have radios and cars. Surly they would have contacted someone by now.

"Maybe," Leon says, shrugging his shoulders in a noncommittal gesture. You both lapse back into silence after that.

Miles and minutes pass in silence until you see a light in the distance. As you get closer you see it's a gas station. "Wow," you say, humor in your voice, "I was beginning to think we would never find civilization." Leon laughed and started slowing down as you got close. Pulling up to one of the pumps, Leon stops the car and turns off the engine. He rubs his face, looking kind of tired.

Leon looks over at you, "I'm going to fill up the tank, you can stay here if you want, shouldn't take long" he unbuckles his seat belt and opens the door.

"I think I'm going to take the opportunity to stand up for a while," you reply, unbuckling and jumping out of the car.

"Alright, just don't wander off," Leon says, smiling at you.

"Mhmm" you hum, rolling your eyes as you hear his soft laughter from the other side of the car. Shutting the door behind you, you close your eyes, take in a deep breath and stand on your tippy toes. Stretching your arms up as high as they will go you wiggle your fingers and lean your head back, luxuriating in the feeling of not being in a car. Letting out your breath you roll your shoulders and shake out all your limbs. 'Getting the wiggles out' as your uncle used to call it. During all this you hear Leon taking the nozzle from the gas pump and putting it into the tank on the jeep. Thank god for pit stops.


	3. Something's Not Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noticing something is amiss, you and Leon head towards the gas station market, unaware of the horrors lying within.

"No one's around?" You hear Leon mutter to himself. You follow his gaze, for the first time actually taking in your surroundings. Besides the one you're at, there are a couple other pumps, with another car parked haphazardly by one, its passenger side door hanging open. "That's weird..." You couldn't agree more.

Suddenly there was a crashing sound coming from the building. No lights are on, so you can only see what is illuminated from the headlights of the other car, that you now realize is a sheriffs car. You and Leon exchange a look, and he walks around the front of the jeep. You follow as he cautiously walks toward the building. You gasp as you notice blood on the ground. A lot of blood. Pools of it lead towards the store with footprints tracking through the middle. Someone was loosing a dangerous amount of blood. Leon glances down but keeps walking.

Once he reached the door he stops and tries to look through the window, but without the lights on in the store, you can't see a thing. He slowly pushes the door open, motioning for you to stay put. You hold your breath, desperately trying to listen for signs of danger.

Opening the door the rest of the way, Leon asks "Hello? Anybody there?" Only silence answers. On the floor just inside the door, a flashlight sits on the ground, illuminating another spattering of blood. Leon squats down and picks up the flashlight, shining it around the isles of the store. "Something's not right..." He says. 'No kidding', you think to yourself.

Leon stands back up and slowly walks further into the store, checking the isles and behind the counter. His hand hovers close to his hip, where under his jacket he must have a service pistol. You feel a little better knowing that one of you is armed with something besides a knife, but oh how you wished you had brought your own handgun. You quietly pull your knife from its sheath and hold it the way Uncle Bruno taught you. Not only had he taught you to hunt animals, but also how to fight a human, just in case. Grateful for the lessons, you grip the handle and take a few deep breaths, hoping you wont need to use it.

Hearing the sounds of a struggle, you and Leon walk further into the store, following the trail of blood. Rounding the corner of the last isle of shelves, Leon's flashlight shines on a man sitting on the floor by a door that leads back into the freezer behind the wall of refrigerated shelves. He holds a hand on his neck, covered in blood.

"You alright?" Leon asks, moving closer, concern and a bit of fear in his voice. As the two of you get closer to the man, he points through the door, breathing heavily. Leon shines the flashlight to the doorway as the man's arm drops back to the floor. Whatever is going on, one person is seriously inured, and from the sounds of it, there is quite a struggle coming from the back room. Leon looks back to you, and you can tell that he is switching to police mode. "Don't move" he tells the man, "I'll be back for you". Turning to you he speaks quietly " [Yn] you should stay with him, see if you can stop the bleeding."

"Ok," you say slowly, kneeling down next to the bleeding man. You can feel the blood slipping under your boots. You look back up and make eye contact with Leon. "Please be careful," you tell him. He nods and turns back to the door, slowly walking forward until you can't see him. You watch the doorway for a second before turning back to the man on the floor. He doesn't look good, his skin almost looks gray. He must have already lost a lot of blood. Maybe he's the one that left the pools of it from the parking lot. You were about to ask to see his wound when you hear Leon speak from the other room.

"Officer, you need help?" You sit still, listening for more of the conversation. You can hear the faint sound of a struggle, your heart rate quickens and you stand up, ready to follow Leon when you hear another mans voice.

"Stay back sir, I got this." followed by a sort of growling shout. You hear more yelling and the sound of something being knocked over. You walk over to the door frame and lean against it, slowly leaning around the corner, looking around the room for where the voices are coming from. There is a hallway lined with shelves, a few boxes standing around. It's dark so you take your flashlight off your belt and click it on. You see a door at the end of the hall and you recognize Leon's figure standing in the frame.

"Hey, hey! Get off him right now!" you hear Leon shout. Passed him you can hear a struggle and cries for help from the man you heard before, who must be the officer Leon was speaking to. You move swiftly down the hall, flashlight in your left hand, knife in your right.

"Leon." You call cautiously, not wanting to startle him, but he's not paying attention to you.

"What the fuck?!" You hear Leon say under his breath. He sounds freaked out, but you can't see passed him to see what scared him. You suddenly hear an awful wet tearing sound. Leon backs up a step, then brings out his gun, holding it up at something in the room beyond. "Freeze! I'll shoot!" He yells, you can see over his shoulder now, enough to see the head of...someone? Something? It has bluish dead eyes, ragged hair and blood all over its face, all over its mouth. A shred of something dark red hanging from its teeth.

It gets up and starts trudging towards Leon. Its limbs moving almost independently, but trying to achieve the same goal. The goal seeming to be Leon.

"Leon!" you shout as the creature gets closer. Just before it gets within arms reach Leon fires a shot, hitting it in the chest. It was a good shot. Enough to take down a full grown man, right over the heart. This...whatever it is, however, merely staggers back a few steps, then starts moving towards Leon again.

"Shit!" you hear Leon utter under his breath. He aims higher and lets off another shot, this time in the head. Still the thing just staggers back. 'What the hell?!' Leon shoots once more, another shot to the head and the thing finally crumples to the floor. You can hear Leon's quick breathing, your own breath coming in gasps, on the verge of panic. You were prepared to fight animals and people, but what the fuck is that?

Gripping your knife, you walk slowly towards Leon, never taking your eyes off of the...monster for lack of a better term. Leon is still breathing hard, aiming his gun at the creature, either in shock or waiting for it to get back up again. You gently lay your hand on his arm, trying not to startle him. He flinches at your touch anyway, but calms a bit when he sees it's you.

"Are you hurt?" you ask, looking him over to make sure the thing didn't get to him. His eyes are wild with fear and confusion. Seeing no injuries, you let out a sigh of relief. "What happened?"

"I-I-I...I don't know," he stutters, blinking fast as if to clear his mind. He looks back to the two bodies on the floor. "I saw that officer struggling with that...thing and I asked if he needed help, he told me to stay back and then..." Leon shook his head a bit "the thing just took him down. Pinned him and bit his neck, just tore it out..." his sentence runs off as he stares in horror at the scene before him. All color drained from his face.

"You did what you could Leon," you reassure him, putting your hand over his, lowering his gun. He takes a shaky breath, but relaxes a bit at your touch. "We should really get out of here. Try and find some help." The officer in front of you hasn't moved, and judging by the amount of blood pooled under him, you assume he must be dead. Just to be sure you carefully move towards him, eyes on the monster laying partially on top of him. You take a deep breath through your mouth, trying to ignore the smell of death, and place your fingers on the small amount of undamaged flesh on his neck, attempting to find a pulse. Finding none, you sit back on your heels. You check his belt, thinking of using his pistol, but let out a huff of frustration as you find his holster empty.

"[Yn]," you hear Leon call softly from behind you, "there's nothing we can do for him now. Let's go." You hear him walk a little closer. You turn to see him holding out his hand to you. You take it and he helps you stand. Letting out a long breath, you follow him back through the hall to the freezer door you entered from.

Leon moves to open the door, but as he pushes, it stays still. You hear Leon mutter a confused grunt. He tries again, this time pushing his shoulder against the metal. It still wont budge. "Hey!" Leon calls out, "What are you doing?" He must be thinking of the injured man that was sitting by the door before.

"Do you think he locked us in here?" You ask, starting to feel panicky at the thought of being stuck in the back of some building in the middle of nowhere with two dead bodies.

"I don't know," Leon answers, his brows knit in confusion. "Either way, we can't get through this way. I think I saw another door in the other room, let's just go that way." You nod and follow Leon as he goes back to the befouled room.

You both glance at the bodies as you walk by, making your way around a corner of shelves to reach a regular office door. It has a small rectangular window that in normal circumstances would allow you to see the store beyond. Unfortunately, with all the lights off in the floor room, you can't see a thing. You watch as Leon reaches for the handle and attempts to open it. "Ugh, it's locked." Leon groans, letting his hand fall back to hit his leg with a smack of frustration.

"Well, if it can be locked from this side, then there has to be a key back here somewhere, right?" You reply reassuringly. You look around for a possible hiding place for said key. "There's a light on over in the corner, lets check there." You say, walking around the shelves. You gingerly step over the bodies, careful not to step on them, and stay far away from any un-dead hands. If you've learned nothing else from the movies, never assume the monster is dead.

Leon follows behind you, also taking care to stay clear of the bodies. As you get closer to the light you see that it is illuminating a desk, maybe where the store owner did their paperwork, and on the wall to the side of the desk is a lock box, containing, "The key!" You announce in an excited whisper. You grab it from the hook and turn to show Leon the prize dangling from your fingers.

"Nice work," Leon answers with a tired, exasperated smile, "now lets get the hell out of here." You nod fervently in agreement, when movement behind Leon's shoulder catches your eye.

"Uh...Leon?" You say in a shaky voice, pointing behind him.

His eyes widen as he detects your fear, and follows your gesture to see the monster, impossibly scrambling back onto its feet. "No way..." Leon stammered, raising his weapon again, "this can't be!" The thing stumbles a bit, then seeming to get its footing, starts trudging toward the two of you.

BANG. Leon shoots, aiming for the head, but misses by an inch. "Shit" he cursed under his breath, aiming again, this time the shot hits its mark, near the temple of the creatures head. As it staggers, and before it can get its balance back, Leon fires again. This time the thing falls, entirely limp, against one of the shelves. The two of you wait for a minute to see if it moves again, but when it stays still you walk forward and drive your knife into the skull with a sickening squelch-crunch. You twist the hilt for good measure, then tug the knife back out and wipe the blood off on the shirt of the now very dead, dead person.

You glance back to see Leon looking at you with brows raised, struck by your actions. You give him a curt nod, "that should be the end of that." You turn back to the door and bring the key to the lock "I'll say" you hear Leon comment quietly.

You turn the key in the lock, and after hearing a soft click you twist the knob and cautiously open the door. No sooner had you cracked the door, there came a huge crash from somewhere in the store. You glance around and zero in on the cause. Another one of those monsters in crashing through the aisles, headed straight for you.

"Get behind me!" Leon ordered, pushing passed you, weapon drawn and pointed at the new threat. Just as he is about to shoot you hear a loud raspy groan coming from the other aisle. 'Oh god', its the man from before, the one leaning against the door! The bleeding has stopped and now his eyes are clouded with a white haze. "Fuck!" Leon curses under his breath. He shoots the leg of the monster in the way of your exit, causing it to collapse onto the floor. "Come on, hurry!" Leon grabs your wrist and pulls you towards the door. You almost make it to the exit when another zombie crashes against a shelf, knocking it over onto you and Leon.

"Go, I'll hold it off!" Leon grunts, pushing the shelf up far enough that you can get by, avoiding the grasping hands of the creature. Once at a safe distance you turn to help Leon as he struggles with the monster and the heavy metal. With a yell he shoves the display back towards the creature, causing both to fall back against the wall. "Go, go!" he yells, gesturing you to go for the door.

You run to the door but just before you can reach it, it slams open, revealing a woman in a red jacket, wet from the rain, standing in the doorway. You gasp loudly at the unexpected sight then feel your eyes widen as you realize a shambling horror is right behind her. Before you can say anything she shifts her startled eyes from yours to something behind you.

"Don't shoot!" she stammers, throwing her hands up. You glance over your shoulder to see Leon walking up next to you, gun drawn and pointed at the doorway.

"Get down!" Leon yells. The mystery woman falls to her knees, ducking her head, and Leon fires a bullet into the head of the zombie that was right behind her. Satisfied that it wasn't getting back up, Leon nudges you with his shoulder, motioning for you to move ahead of him as he looks back to make sure the things in the store weren't within grabbing distance. The three of you file out, letting the door shut behind you.

"You alright?" Leon asks, glancing at the woman, then you, making sure neither of you were hurt. You nod, then turn to her.

"Yeah I think so," the woman breathlessly answers. "Thanks." She looks at the two of you, gratitude in every shaky word, and in her scared eyes. You give her a small smile that she returns.

"Thank me later, when we're safe." Leon breaths next to you. You look back at him, his eyes are scanning your surroundings, nose crinkled in concentration. Then he jerks his chin, gesturing to the parking lot. You whip your head back around, and there you see a wave of zombies scrambling towards you.

"Oh god," you gasp, at the same time the woman cries "Holy shit!" You hold you knife ready, scanning the wall of dead for the most immediate threat, at the same time trying to find an escape.

Suddenly you hear a growling scream and a bang as a grotesque face presses against the windowed door of the market. You let out a breathless scream, then turn back to the shambling hoard. 'This...is not looking good. Is this the end? Backed against a wall with a bunch of horror movie monsters stopping at nothing to tear me apart?'

"Come on!" you hear Leon call. Your eyes flick to his form as he starts darting towards the pack of horrors. You panic for a moment, then follow as he ducks to avoid the grasping arms of the dead. "Get in!" He runs for the abandoned sheriffs car, going around to the drivers side. You chase after him, pushing over a zombie and quickly hopping into the back seat from his side of the car, the mystery woman running to the passenger side.

Leon starts the engine before the doors are shut. It rumbles to life and he swiftly switches the gear to reverse. "Hold on" he orders. You comply, grasping onto the handle of the door, bracing against the back of the seat. Tires squeal and you smell the burning rubber as Leon floors the gas, swinging the car around to face the road. Your back slams into the seat as he breaks hard, shifts into drive and hits the gas again, peeling out of the lot, racing passed the pumps, his abandoned jeep, and the crowd of dead eyed monsters. The three of you look behind you as the nightmare fades into the distance. The engine roars as the car picks up speed, flying away from the gruesome scene as fast as the wheels will go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. I have a problem with writing the inner voice. I'm trying out putting 'single quotes' around them. Not sure how it comes across, it's kinda new to me. Besides that, how are you liking the story? My unhealthy obsession with Leon Kennedy needed an outlet, so here it is.


	4. Surrounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping the terror of the gas station, you, Leon, and the woman he saved head to the Raccoon City Police department for help and with any luck, answers.

For a minute the only sounds filling the air are the rumbling engine of the car, and the labored breathing of the three occupants. You close your eyes and let your head fall back against the seat, trying to get your breath and nerves under control.

"What the hell is going on?" You hear the woman ask. You open your eyes and see her look between you and Leon, searching for answers. Unfortunately you don't know any more than she does. You shake your head at her, trying to convey your own confusion.

"I don't know," Leon answers, looking over to her, "Hopefully they'll have some answers at the police station." He turns his eyes back to the road.

"Wait, you're a cop?" She asks, voice hopeful.

"Yeah," Leon shrugs, looking a little embarrassed, "Leon Kennedy. You are?"

"Claire-Claire Redfield." She answers, sitting back in her seat.

"Live around here?" Leon asks after a moment of silence.

"No, looking for my brother. He's a cop too."

"Well, it's a good thing we found each other." Leon says with a smile, then his face darkens, "I don't know what to expect anymore..." You close your eyes, trying to block out the memories from the darkened gas station. If zombies were real, then where were the boundaries on reality?

"Sorry, hi," Claire's voice breaks through your panicked thoughts. You open your eyes and she's addressing you. "I'm Claire." She introduces herself with a smile, but worry still pulls her brows together, her eyes showing fear.

"[Yn] [Ln]." You give a tired smile and throw your hand up in a wave, before letting gravity drag it back down.

After that it's a silent drive as you all sit with your thoughts, mulling over your place in this living nightmare. The last thing you notice is a sign welcoming you to Raccoon City, home of Umbrella. The name and symbol ring a bell in your mind, but before you can place it your eyes slip shut and you fall into a restless sleep.

## 

🙠

Your eyes fly open and you sit up with a start. For a moment you forget where you are, as you take in the dark back seat of a car, two figures in the seats in front of you. Then you remember the events that led here and you feel panic constrict your throat. Zombies. There were actual zombies. They tried to get you, but then you were saved by...

"Hey [Yn], you're awake. I figured you should catch some sleep while you could get it, so I didn't wake you." A pleasant voice speaks to you, and you instantly feel calmer. Leon, you remember. Leon helped you. He saved you. And Claire, the woman in the passenger seat. You look into the rear view mirror so see Leon's clear, blue grey eyes watching you with concern. "Are you ok?" he asks quietly. Claire tactfully looks out the window, giving you as much privacy as she can.

You rub your eyes quickly with the backs of your hands. "Yeah," you croak, then clear your throat, "I'm alright, just..." Unsure how to express your horror and disbelief you trail off, lifting your hands in a confused gesture, then letting them fall back to your lap.

"I know." His voice is quiet, eyes sympathetic at they hold yours in the reflection of the mirror. "We should be close to the city. Hopefully we can find someone who can explain all this." You nod but stay silent. You can't imagine what kind of explanation could make sense of the horrors you've seen. This wasn't just some illness, like rabies or mad cow disease. Those people were dead. They died, and then got back up to attack you. How could any sense come from that? Your ears prickle as you hear a faint voice.

"Wait, listen...Do you hear that?" You lean forward to lean between the seats. "It sounds like a voice..."

"Yeah, I hear it too." Claire chimes in. You lapse back into silence, trying to decipher the words. As the car moves farther down the road it becomes clearer. It seems to be an emergency broadcast. The recording starts over again, and you can hear the whole message this time.

"Attention all citizens: Due to the citywide outbreak, you are advised to take shelter at the Raccoon City police station. Free food and medical supplies will be provided to everyone in need." If there was more to the message you didn't hear it; all you could pay attention to was the city before you. Or what used to be a city.

Abandoned cars lines the sides of the one lane road. There are barley any lights on along the streets, but you can make out the faint outline of bodies laying between some of the cars. You're breath quickens and you tear your eyes away from the gruesome sight. There doesn't seem to be any lights on inside any of the buildings, houses and store fronts dark and empty, as if there was no one left in the city. No one alive at least. The broadcast begins again and you try to calm your heart, closing your eyes and breathing in and out at a steady rhythm.

"Oh my god," you hear Claire's voice, and although she speaks softly the sound is deafening in the tense silence of the car, "this is so unreal..."

"The police station's not much farther," came Leon's soft reply, "They'll know something."

"Yeah but...what if we're the only ones?" Claire's voice is full of fear and worry, and as you open your eyes you can see it on her face too. She must be thinking about her brother. "What if there's no survivors-"

"No." Leon cuts her off turning to look at her. "There's survivors. It's a big city...there has to be." Leon says this with confidence, but as you share a look with Claire, you can see the two of you remain unconvinced. You reach your hand out and gently touch her arm.

"I'm sure you're brother's alright. If he's half as tough as you then we have nothing to worry about." You squeeze Claire's arm and smile, hoping to reassure her. Of course you have no idea of her brother's actual circumstance, but there's no point in losing hope now. "I'm sure we'll find him." Claire gives you a grateful look and grasps your hand for a moment.

"Thanks [Yn]." You nod and withdraw your hand from her arm.

The car starts slowing down and you look to see a concrete road barrier set up before a pile up of cars. There may have been some kind crash, it certainly looks like it. There are several cars driven up onto, or crushed under others and most of the cars have at least a few smashed windows. Either way, the road clearly ends here.

Leon rolls the car to a stop before the barrier and shifts into park, turning off the windshield wipers and leaning back in his seat. A streetlight flickers overhead as you stare at the carnage of the city. The silence in deafening now that the car is stopped, and no sounds other than the rain are coming from outside. You take a calming breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth.

"Looks like we're walking from here." Leon observes into the silence.

"Looks like." You whisper. There's another moment of silence, and you see Claire looking intently out the window.

"More like running." She corrects. You and Leon lean over to look out her side of the car. There, two of those creatures are on their hands and knees, leaning over...another dead human body. They're ripping off pieces of flesh, and you can faintly hear the sickening wet, tearing sound as sinews and muscles shred. You control a wave of nausea, fighting to steel yourself against the horrific scene before your eyes. As you watch, the two zombies suddenly stop their feast and slowly turn to face you.

"Yeah, good call." Leon agrees. Just as he finishes speaking there is a loud bang and a growling shriek. You scream and turn to see a monster, that came out of nowhere throwing itself against Leon's door.

"Jesus Christ!" He yells, flinching away from the window. Suddenly you hear Claire yell and you see another creature attacking her side as well. Your eyes widen in fear as you realize the car is surrounded by crazed monsters.

"Shit!" You scream as one of the zombies smashes against your window with a sickening thud, leaving a smear of blood against the rain slicked glass. You hear your heartbeat pound in your ears as terror flows through your veins.

"Leon," Claire calls, getting both of your attentions back from the hoard of dead, "we gotta back up."

Leon moves to shift the car into reverse but pauses, looking in the rear view mirror. You look over your shoulder and see a light, getting bigger and closer by the second. As it approaches you see that its multiple lights, the kind on the front of big rig trucks. Your suspicions are confirmed when you hear the horn honking. It's barreling straight for you down the narrow road.

"Ugh...guys?" You squeak out, fear taking the volume from your voice.

"What the-?!" Claire blurts out behind you. As the truck gets closer you can see it mowing down the dead creatures shambling in front of it, but whoever is driving doesn't seem to have much control. The truck is swaying back and forth on the narrow path, missing the parked cars on either side by inches.

"Holy shit." you hear Leon curse behind you. "[Yn], Claire, get out." You whip your head around, looking into his eyes. He looks back at you, panic spreading on his face. "GET OUT NOW!" He yells, then turns to open his door. 

You clumsily reach for the latch on your door, and once pulled you attempt to push it open. The weight of the undead monsters leaning against the door keeps you from opening it, no matter how hard you are able to shove. A strangled cry escapes your lips, and you turn in fear to see the truck nearly upon you.

"I can't!" Claire screams, her and Leon fairing no better trying to get their own doors open. Leon looks to Claire, then back into the rear view mirror, gaze connecting with yours.

"Hold on!" Leon shouts, and the three of you do your best to brace yourselves for the impending crash. You brace your hands against the back of the seat in front of you, screwing your eyes shut in dread. 

You hear the crash before you feel it, the headlights of the truck sweeping to the side at the last second, and you hear it smash into the surrounding cars before bouncing back towards you.

You feel the impact as the truck collides with the back of the car, your body thrown against the seat in front of you. You hear Leon grunt, and you can hear his head hit the steering wheel. It feels like the screeching of metal goes on for hours. You lose track of how many clashes you hear as the cars around you are pushed aside with ear shattering, metallic shrieks. 

The car finally stops sliding and there is a sudden, eerie silence. Your heart is crashing against your ribs, you can hear the blood pounding past your ears, but besides that, everything is still. A part of your brain remembers you're still in danger, urging you to move. You try to reach for the door handle, but your hand doesn't move where you tell it to. You look down to see your left arm laying limply at your side. You try to move it again, but your fingers only twitch. Fighting the urge to panic, you instead reach around with your right arm to unlatch the door. The latch opens with a pop and you shove the door as far as you can away from you. The crash seems to have messed up the mechanism somewhat, and you can only manage to get the door about halfway open. You try your best to swing your feet to the ground, brain still fuzzy.

You attempt to stand but your knees give way and you fall to the wet pavement beneath your feet. You let out a breathless gasp as your left shoulder hits the ground. Your vision goes white with pain, and it takes all your will power to not pass out. Color starts to seep back as you catch your breath, the pain becoming unbearable as opposed to intolerable. You hear a scuffle close to you, like another body hitting the floor.

"Leon," you groan out, hoping he's ok. You hear a grunt, then the scuffle of shoes come closer to you. Suddenly you are being dragged by the collar of your jacket away from the wrecked car. You lean your head back to see Leon pulling you, face pinched with effort, breathing ragged. The movement stops as he leans you against the side of another car, you assume one of the ones from the pile up. Just as he lets go of your collar, the car you had a minute sooner inhabited burst into flame. Your uninjured arm flies up to shield your face from the heat and light, but you can't close your eyes, transfixed as they were with the horror of the flaming wreckage.

"Woah!" Leon yelped, shielding his own eyes. He scanned over the wreck, then looked back to you. He started to say something, but your eyes widened with terror as you noticed the flames licking underneath the giant tanks of the truck that had barreled into you. Seeing your expression he turns to follow your gaze. "Shit!" He yells as he runs to your side. He drops to his knees and brings your head into his chest, shielding you with his body. 

No sooner had he done that, then the truck explodes with an incredible wave of heat and force. You hear Leon gasp, gripping you tighter in his arms. The back of your mind registers the intense pain in your shoulder, but all you can pay attention to is the ball of fire over Leon's shoulder. After the blast subsides, he pulls away, glancing at the carnage behind him, then back to you. He holds your face in his hands, eyes roaming over you, checking for injuries. He locks eyes with yours. "Are you ok?" His eyes burn with worry. As he asks the pain in your shoulder flairs, stealing your breath, and all you can do to answer is pant and grit your teeth, making the breath hiss between them. You shut your eyes and feel your face contort in agony. You barely keep from screaming, instead letting out a gurgling groan.

"Leon? [Yn]?" You hear Claire cry. Somewhere in your mind you're glad she's alive, but for the most part all you can comprehend is pain. You feel Leon stand next to you and walk a few steps toward the burning car. "Are you there?" She sounds on the verge of panic. With the flames roaring over the car, she must not be able to see the two of you from the other side.

"Here! Are you ok?" Leon calls back. You open your eyes slightly, wincing at the bright light from the flames. He stands with his arm up to deflect some of the light and heat, looking around to see where Claire's voice is coming from.

"I'm alright! Where's [Yn]?" She asks, having to yell over the roar of the flames.

"She's here, but she's injured!" Leon shouts back. He surveys the area, fear making his eyes go wide. "We can't stay here, it's not safe!" You follow his gaze, noticing for the first time dozens of dead shambling towards you.

"Go on ahead! I'll meet you at the station!" Claire yells from beyond the flaming wall of wreckage.

"We'll be there!" Leon yells back, before turning back to you. Kneeling down, he locks eyes with you, "Can you walk?" There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your legs, but with the amount of pain you're in you can't be sure you wouldn't just fall over if you tried standing. You shake your head, groaning as the movement starts a whole new wave of pain radiating from your arm. He gets closer to you, "Is it your left arm?" You nod, wincing as he puts a soft hand on it. He flinches back, guilt on his face, but with a glance behind him his eyes harden with determination. 

"Ok, here, put your arm around me, hold on as tight as you can." He wraps your right arm around the back of his neck and presses his body closer into your right side. One of his arms grips around your back as the other slides under your knees. With a grunt of effort he pulls you towards him and lifts you into his arms. He stands up, a little wobbly at first, but then walks firmly, holding you close to him as he moves swiftly past the monsters. You hug around his shoulders with your good arm, trying to take as much burden off as possible as Leon walks through the mess of the ruined road. 

There are long dead bodies littering the street, rivers of blood being washing to the gutters by the steady rain. Papers and random items are strewn about, most likely from the people that were attempting to flee the city amidst the chaos. It didn't look like many, if any, of them made it.

Leon is breathing heavily, sweat beading on his forehead, mixing with the rain to plaster his hair to his head, as he hugs you towards him, maneuvering around the grasping hands of the dead. There are so many, you can't imagine how Leon will get through them while holding you. Neither of you can use your weapons, and more dead keep shambling around the obstacles of the ruined city.

A zombie Leon attempted to skirt around suddenly spots you, and with an inhuman shriek lunged for your dangling feet. You scream and bury your face in Leon's neck, unable to move and afraid to watch the attack. At the last second Leon spat out a curse through clenched teeth and kicked the creature in the thigh, causing it to stagger back far enough that it could no longer reach you. Chest heaving you look up to see Leon set his jaw as he readjusts your weight in his arms and jogs past another barricade of burning cars, putting more distance between you and the creatures.

Ahead there seems to be a space clear of fire and mostly devoid of zombies, and Leon moves towards it, glancing back to make sure none of the others are following too close. The path leads to a small alleyway that turns off to the left. But in the corner, leaning against the wall sits a dead woman, a small fire of burning debris next to her body. Leon's steps falter as you get nearer, and her body suddenly starts to move, lifting its head and snarling, hands reaching for Leon's legs as he rushes past. Before it can follow you the fire tips, blaze obscuring the body, blocking off the end of the alley you had come from.

"Shit! It's everybody," Leon rasped, "they've all turned..." The two of you look at the dead woman, her body still trying to reach you, even through the flames. Her hair catches fire and her limbs slowly succumb to the flames, her movements finally ceasing. Leon has a baffled look on his face, still unable to believe the horror of the situation that you're stuck in. He glances down to you're face and for a moment looks incredibly vulnerable, then his eyes harden and he sets his jaw, hands gripping you harder. "Lets get you to a safe place, then I can check your arm." You nod back and he continues down the ally.

The narrow path leads down several flights of stairs, around another corner then back up. Leon must be exhausted by this point, carrying you through all this, but his hands still hold firmly under you, arms hugging you closer as he carefully jogs up the steps. Once to the top he lets out a sigh of relief.

"There it is," he pants, "the station." In front of you lies more wrecked cars, many of them engulfed in flames. There are more zombies shuffling through the wreckage, but there seems to be a path leading through the maze of metallic ruin. Your eyes follow the path to see, across the street and down the block, a lit sign that reads 'RPD-Raccoon Police'. You take a deep breath, blowing out through your mouth. You're so close now to safety, it's unbelievable.

Leon begins moving again, rounding the crashed vehicles and barricades, but slows down as he looks ahead. Blocking the path is a zombie, slowly turning towards you. Your breath picks up again as you notice more behind it. A couple bodies slump out the windows of a burning bus, and as they hit the ground begin scrambling to their feet. Still more dead line the path leading to the front gates of the police station.

"Leon," you breath, panic rising. There's no way the two of you will be able to get past all of them. Your only good arm grasping on to Leon's shoulder, and his arms occupied holding you, neither of you will be able to fend them off. Leon is already tired, you can feel his muscles shaking with the effort of carrying you and his breath is coming in ragged gasps.

"Shh, just hold on tight." Leon tells you as he starts walking. He grips you harder, pulling your body as close as he can as he picks up speed, running down the path, dodging the grasping hands of the dead. You grip tighter, hiding your face against the side of his neck. "Almost there," he rasps, tripping slightly over the arm of a dead body on the ground.

Leon sprints past the last few zombies and to the gate of the fence surrounding the station. Growling in effort he pushes the gate door open with his shoulder and shoves through the entrance. Once on the other side he drops you to the ground and turns back to shut the gate. The heavy metal bars clang shut and Leon quickly slides a giant lock through mechanism, barring the zombies from entering the courtyard. You can see Leon's chest heaving to catch his breath and with a groan of relief you relax and lay back, letting your head rest on the pavement.

After a minute you hear footsteps approach and you open your eyes to see Leon standing over you with a tired smile, holding out his hand. You smile appreciatively at him and grasp it with your good arm, letting him pull you to your feet. Once standing he wraps your arm around his neck once more, and winds his other arm around your waist, supporting your weight so that you can walk alongside him. He leads you to the front door and you try to ignore the human shaped lumps of wrapped cloth laying around the courtyard. He pushes open the door and leads you through the entrance into the police station.


	5. Desperate Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Limping into the police station with help from Leon, you find an empty room, a welcome sanctuary from the horrors of the night, giving Leon the chance to give you much needed medical attention.

As you enter the building you can't help but marvel at the architecture. The ceiling is high above you, and on either side of the huge lobby are balconies held up with large white columns. It reminds you of famous Gothic cathedrals. In front of you are a few small steps leading down from the landing to the main floor of the lobby. Leon helps you limp down the steps, once at the bottom you are standing on a large stone design of the Raccoon City Police badge emblem, along with the date 1969, the year, you assume, the RPD was founded.

You look up from the design on the floor to see a large wooden desk stretching across the majority of the lobby, flanked on either side by short white stone ramps leading up to another large room, only partially separated from the front lobby by a low wooden wall behind the desk, and made of the same material, that was only a couple feet taller than you. Two large, square, stone pillars of a darker color reach from the the floor on either side of the wall to the ceiling high above you. Just beyond the wall held the most captivating structure in the large room, and given the splendor, that was really saying something. 

In the center of the room, beyond the wooden wall, and standing in front of a large, sweeping double staircase, stood a magnificent white stone statue of a woman. She wore a simple gown and in her hand she raised a flag, carved from the same stone. The detail, even from this distance, made the carved cloth almost look real. As you gaze around the grand room, you wonder how a building like this could be a police station. 

You are brought back to reality as you notice the bloody footprints littering the floor, and the medical cots and screens, along with various other supplies that must have been a part of a makeshift hospital. Everything is shoved to the sides of the room, and nothing seems to have been used recently. Judging from this scene and the amount of bodies lying wrapped up in the courtyard, you guess that few, if any, of the people treated here survived. 

Leon looks around, trying to find a place to sit you down. He seems to decide on the front desk, as opposed to one of the low medical cots. He helps you limp to it then stops, leaning you against the side and taking your arm from around his neck. He backs up a step then holds his hands out, asking silently for permission to lift you onto the surface. You smile at the courteous gesture and move into his hands, gripping onto his shoulder for further support. He lets out a huff of air and lifts you up until you slide back to sit on the edge of the desk. You grimace as another flash of pain moves through your torso at the movement, but given the alternative of becoming another one of the shambling monsters outside the gates, you almost welcome it.

He smiles sympathetically and looks around for any medical supplies. As he busies himself grabbing a clean cloth from the other side of the desk and some kind of medical spray from the crates near the cots, you take a deep breath and begin to take off your soaked leather jacket. You gasp as fire rockets through your nerves, but you grit your teeth and continue sliding your good arm out of the sleeve, shaking it slightly to work the fabric off. Once your arm is extricated, you take a break, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, waiting for the black spots to fade from your vision before starting on the other sleeve.

"Hey," Leon says next to you, concern and slight annoyance coloring his tone. You gasp and flinch away from the unexpected closeness. You were so concentrated on your breathing you hadn't even noticed Leon return. You let out a breathless laugh at the look on his face. His brows are knit with concern, but his eyes are telling you he's not happy you didn't wait for his help.

"Here, let me help you," Leon says gently, reaching for your collar and helping you to ease the rest of your jacket off your body. With his help you manage to get your other arm out without too much more pain, but you are still left gasping at the feeling of white hot shocks shooting to your fingertips.

With your jacket off you are now left in a plain black, short sleeved t-shirt. Even though it was fall now and the weather had begun to turn cold, you had decided your jacket was warm enough that you didn't need a long sleeve shirt under it. Now as you sat there shivering in the big open room of the police station, you regretted your decision. Although, you realize, it probably wouldn't have made a whole lot of difference since the main reason for the chill in your bones was from the rain that has soaked through every article of clothing. Your teeth clacked together and you tried not to think about the warm, dry cloths that were in your duffel bag...still sitting in the backseat of Leon's jeep back at that horrible gas station.

"Mind if I take a look at your arm now? It will probably hurt." Leon asks, eyes on your face. You gulp and take a deep breath in, then nod. He nods in return then gently touches your injured shoulder, feeling for the injury. 

You take it a sharp breath of air, hissing through your clenched teeth. Leon glances for a moment at your face, but continues his assessment of your injury. Coming to a conclusion he sighs and lets his hand drop back to his side.

"Looks like your shoulder got dislocated in the crash. It doesn't seem like too bad a separation, but it should really be set as soon as possible." He grows quiet after giving you the news, worry etched on his face.

"Did any of your badass cop training teach you how to fix this?" You ask, a pained smirk playing on your lips. Leon chuckles and rubs his hand on the back of his neck, looking down for a moment and then back up to meet your eyes.

"Well, yeah, but I would feel better if a doctor did it... I've never actually had to do it on anybody, I only know the technique." He ads the last part with a worried, but playful smirk. You laugh, exasperated as you think of the situation.

"Leon, look," you begin, and your serious tone catches him off guard, and he stands up straighter, playful look gone as he watches your face. "Even if we were able to find a doctor in all this mess, they would probably be more interested in tearing my arm off than fixing it." You finish with grim humor.

Leon looks at you in surprise, eyebrows raised, then lets out a genuine laugh. He smiles at you then replies "I suppose you have a point. Desperate times, desperate measures." He lets out a big breath, "I'm not going to lie to you though, this is going to hurt a lot." He adds with a serious look.

"It already hurts, might as well fix it and get it over with," you mutter. You clear your throat and try your best to square your shoulders, getting ready to brace against the pain. "Let's do this."

"Alight. Give me your arm." Leon takes your arm in his hands, trying to be gentle. You hold back a groan, biting your lip and clamping your eyes shut.

"Wait!" You yell, a bit too loud. Leon's eyes flick to your face in shock, letting go of your arm. You grab your jacket from behind you and fold a bit of the collar and place it in between your teeth, biting down on the soft leather. "Ok, ready." You say around the fabric. Leon nods and re positions his hands.

"Ok. On three. One...two," and with a sickening crunch and a pop he twists your arm and pushes. White hot fire flairs in your shoulder, burning through your veins throughout your whole body. Black spots dance in your vision and it's all you can do to keep from passing out into Leon's arms.

"Fuck!" You scream, but the sound doesn't go far, as breathless as you are, combined with the fabric in your mouth. You pant through and let the leather slip from your teeth, screwing your eyes shut, waiting for the pain to dissipate. As your brain starts to work again, agony calming to a dull, aching throb, you glare into Leon's eyes. "What happened to three?" You spit out.

"Sorry. It was how they trained us to do emergency aid. Keeps people from fighting back as much." His eyes are apologetic but he has an amused grin on his lips. Your eyes narrow further, and you growl wordlessly at his expression.

Then he surprises you. His hands reach for your face, cupping your cheeks, fingers wiping at the tears that had slipped from your eyes. His eyes are gentle as he looks from his fingers tracing your skin, back up to yours. 

"I am sorry." He whispers, his breath fanning your face he's so close. You return the gaze, transfixed on the beautiful blue color in those expressive eyes. What must have only been a few moments seems to last for years. You hadn't realized you had been holding your breath until you shakily took in air through your nose. The sound breaks the spell and Leon releases your face and backs up a step. Clearing his throat, he rubs the back of his neck. You can see a blush rising in his cheeks as he averts his gaze, looking around the room. You feel heat creeping up your own face as you bite your lip, a small smile turning up the corners of your mouth.

"Here," Leon starts, grabbing the clean white cloth he had laid on the desk beside you, "that should be secured for a while to help it heal." Leon nods to your arm as he starts tying the cloth into a makeshift sling. You lean back as he moves towards you to put it on. He tilts his head to the side questioningly.

"Is that really the best idea?" You ask, brow furrowed, "I mean, ideally yes I should be taking it easy and letting my arm heal, but this isn't exactly a 'taking it easy' situation we're in." Leon's face becomes thoughtful once you finish your explanation. His eyes narrow, searching your face.

"How's the pain?" He inquires. Something about his hard expression warns you against lying. "And don't lie. I can tell," he taps a finger on his head, "Badass cop training." You snort and roll your eyes.

"It's tolerable. Better than it was before." You reach up with your other hand to rub your shoulder, wincing, but this time there were no black spots. "Thank you, by the way." You add looking at your boots instead of into Leon's enticing gaze.

"Glad I could help." Leon states simply. You look up at him, smiling. He really meant his words. He was glad, not only that you had been helped, but that he got to do it. If he ever gets to work at a living precinct, he's going to make a great cop. You see his hands tighten on the sling for a moment, then he lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Ok, you don't have to wear it now, but I'm taking this with us," he lifts the tied cloth, "and the first sign I see of your arm bothering you, you're putting it on." He punctuates his sentence with a harsh glare and a jab of his finger.

"Yes Officer Kennedy." You groan out, like a teenager agreeing to curfew, rolling your eyes for good measure. You giggle a little at his serious expression and it melts into a placated look. Satisfied with your response he tucks the cloth into the pocket of his jacket. "Drama Queen," you mutter under your breath.

"What was that?" Leon asks, one eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," you say quickly, waving a hand dismissively, "Just..." you feel a weight settling back into your mind, face falling, "What do we do now?"


	6. Unexpected Briefing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting a clue of where to find another survivor, you and Leon make your way through a maze of terror, and along the way you come across some unexpected information about the cities pharmaceutical patron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get the next part out. Life happens. Blah blah. The last couple weeks sucked. But I finally got the writing bug back to work! This chapter, oof, it's a hefty bunch of exposition, lots of descriptions, not a whole lot of dialog or character interaction. It's wordy, but we're getting more into your characters backstory, adding in a new sub plot to go along with the original one, because I couldn't just do an insert, I had to get my creative little fingers in there and make some new stories! Hope you all like it. :)

"What do we do now?" You try to stay calm as the fear and memories seep back into your mind. You both had really needed this break, besides your arm needing to be set, but now you remember the dead eyes and grasping fingers, the snarling monsters that had chased you here. You weren't sure if this was the apocalypse or some kind of hell, but the task of living through the night was daunting and impossible to imagine. 

Your anxiety growing, you struggle to take a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment. You open them again when you hear Leon blow out a breath, scrubbing his hand over his face. You relax under his gaze, comforted in the fact that you weren't alone.

"Now we look for survivors. There has to be someone left alive here." His eyes move to something behind you and he walks around the desk. Looking over your shoulder you notice a laptop sitting on the other counter, the screen displaying a simple design of a badge and 'R.P.D.' in bold letters. Behind it, in softer lines, is a simple geometric sphere. The background is a shade of warning red, and the logos are pulsing with a white light.

Leon walks up to it, leaning forward slightly to better see the screen, and with a couple key strokes brings up live feeds of some security cameras, a split screen showing four different videos. "There has to be someone here..." he says, mostly to himself. You carefully slide your jacket back on and hop off the desk, moving to watch over Leon's shoulder. You see movement on the lower right screen, the corner of the screen labeling it as camera four. Leon clicks another few keys and the video expands, filling the screen to show just camera four.

A figure is backing up from a perpendicular hallway, coming into view of the camera as he rounds the corner. There are two flashes of light, coupled with static garbled bangs from the speaker of the computer, as the person shoots at a second figure stumbling after him. The second figure, obviously one of the undead monsters, barely flinches at the shots, advancing towards the person, who turns and runs towards, and then out of sight of the camera. The zombie turns the corner and continues chasing the person.

"Not good." Leon mutters, switching the screen to camera three, so you can once again see the person, who you now recognize must be a cop, based on his uniform. He stops and looks up at the camera for a moment before turning to the hall behind him, holstering his weapon and taking something from his back pocket.

"David! Marvin! You there!?" You hear the officer yelling, addressing the camera. He holds up what seems to be a small notebook to the camera, "I found a way out! It's in here!" Meanwhile the zombie has caught up to him, almost within arms reach. He puts the notebook away and draws his gun, firing another two shots that seem to do nothing. The creature grabs him, snapping teeth dangerously close to the officers neck. The man manages to shove it away, his flashlight knocked from his hands, clattering and spinning down the hallway. "Send reinforcements! East hallway!" He runs out of frame from the camera again, still chased by the zombie.

"East hallway, where is that?" You ask Leon, heart pounding after watching that man almost getting killed by one of those things.

"Hold on," Leon clicks a couple keys and a map is brought up on screen, the east hallway flashing red, indicating where the video was coming from. To reach it, you and Leon will have to go through one of the heavy security doors shuttering off many of the rooms from the Main Hall. After that is a long hallway, with who knows how many of those monsters hiding and waiting for their next meal. "I gotta find that guy." Leon's eyes are determined as he stands up straight and turns towards the door.

"You mean we, right?" Leon pauses for a moment, then looks over his shoulder at you, and you know his answer before he says it.

"You stay here. Watch the monitors and see if you can find anyone else." At your exasperated noise, his brows pinch together, and his tone turns defensive, "We don't know what's down that hallway. I don't know that I can protect you-" You cut him off.

"So you're going to leave me alone instead?!" You flinch as your words echo in the large hall. You struggle to control voice, "The last thing we should do is split up. I get the whole 'protect and serve' thing, but you need someone to watch your back, and we're already separated from Claire, I don't want to lose you too." You voice quivers a little at the end. If you weren't so terrified you would have been really embarrassed.

He meets your gaze, brows furrowed as he thinks. You can almost see him weighing the risks, working out different outcomes and consequences. After a minute of silence you roll your eyes and make his decision easier.

"It doesn't really matter what you decide, I'm going to follow you anyway." You snort out a laugh at the annoyed, incredulous look on his face, but soften your voice, reminding yourself that he's only trying to keep you safe. "Both of us will feel better if we know where each other are, and I accept the risks of going with you. But right now we don't have time to argue. That officer is in trouble, and we need to find him." You give him what you hope is a reassuring smile.

Leon takes in a sharp breath of air and lets it out in a frustrated huff. He points his finger and gives you a fierce look, "You don't leave my sight, don't take any risks, do everything I say. Got it?" You nod your head, face serious.

"Pinky promise. You're in charge." His eyes narrow for a moment, before nodding at your honest expression.

"I hope I don't live to regret this." You hear him mutter as he takes quick steps to the shuttered door. You follow behind him, silently agreeing.

According to the map, the door that leads to the hallway you'll need to take to get near the officer's last location is near the main entrance, from here just to the left of the grand doors. As with many of the doors around the room, in place of a normal passage is a large, heavy metal sliding security door that rolled down from above like a garage door. Painted on the surface is the same design from the computer screen, a basic shield and 'R.P.D'. Taped over that is a big piece of cardboard, 'Keep Out!' scrawled in big letters.

The door isn't all the way down, and seems to be broken, the bottom uneven, angled so one side is higher than the other. To the left of the door is what looks like a power switch with a big red light on it. Leon walks over to it and grips the lever. Before pulling it, he looks to you, silently asking if you were ready. At your nod he throws the switch. The light turns green and an electronic beep sounds. The door shudders noisily, raises a few inches, then bangs to a stop with the sound of popping and crackling electricity.

"Crawling under the door to the creepy hallway it is," you mutter under your breath. Leon glances to you with a smirk, then walks to the opening. He leans over to check as much as he can see under the gate.

"You stay here," you begin to splutter out a protest but he cuts you off, "Just for a minute, let me check the other side first." Placated, and a little embarrassed, you nod. You hear him muttering something about him not being the only drama queen, as you watch him get to the ground on his belly. He slowly crawls under the door, scanning the surroundings with his flashlight. Once he's through past his shoulders, he pauses to look carefully for threats. Nervous, you check around the room behind you and bounce on your toes, taking a steadying breath.

When you hear the rustling of clothing you turn back to see his feet disappearing under the edge of the door. You can see the light sweeping around the room. "Ok." you hear him say quietly, then the light shines on the floor next to the door and you can see him kneel down. "Alright [Yn], your turn. You nod, even though he can't see it, and get onto the ground. Only now are you realizing what a mess there is. Seeping from under the door is an unsettling amount of blood. You fight the urge to vomit as you get onto your stomach and shimmy through the sticky swath of gore.

Once you're through the doorway, the gate groans and shudders before sliding down, leaving only an inch of space. 'Well...shit'. Leon hooks a hand under your good arm and helps you stand. You can't help but look at your hands that are now stained with some stranger's blood. You rub them on your pants in an attempt to clean them as you look around the room. The blood on the floor was nothing compared to the sight around you.

Lining the walls are dozens of missing persons fliers, some tacked up on the walls, some on a whiteboard that someone had been making notes on. All of them spattered and smeared with blood. Hand and foot prints littered the floor and walls around the door. You prayed to whoever was listening that they were from the dead trapped behind the door, and not the living.

You were currently on a small landing, a few short steps leading down and into the hallway to the left, the end of the hallway immediately to your right. 'At least nothing can sneak up behind us'. A small comfort. After the steps, the rest of the floor of the hallway was flooded with a layer of water. It wasn't enough to even get over the souls of your boots, but it was just another thing on the steadily growing list that proved how bad things had gotten.

"Stay close," came Leon's soft voice, startling you out of your thoughts. When you didn't answer he turned to you, "You ok?" You swallow audibly and give a shaky nod, not meeting his eyes. "You can still stay here if you want." His words bring you back to focus and you give him a stubborn glare. He sighs, but doesn't argue further, instead leading the way, flashlight sweeping the room, gun drawn and pointed to the floor. You draw your knife, feeling exposed without a gun of your own. The last thing you wanted to do was get close enough to stab a zombie, but it was better than nothing.

The two of you walk as quietly as possible down the hallway, but you can do nothing to muffle the sounds of your shoes slapping in the thin layer of water on the floor. As you walk down the hall, you see more and more missing posters. Given the state of the city, they're probably all dead. You shake your head and look away. 'It's too late to help them now, focus on what you can do'.

Leon stops at an electrical box, one red and one green light glowing. There seems to be a fuse missing. "What does that go to?" you wonder out loud.

"I'm not sure. We can come back later." Leon says as he continues to lead the way. On the right is a wooden double door leading into an office, with a couple windows next to it, and another couple around the corner on the adjacent wall, that looked out into the hallway that continued around the corner of the office.

Leon motioned for you to stop before moving forward to look through the windows into the office. "Seems clear" he whispers just loud enough for you to hear him. You check the door.

"It's locked." A part of you is relieved, knowing that there is another path blocked off to the monsters, 'But it blocks off another exit for you too'. You shake that thought away and follow Leon farther down the hall.

Straight ahead, past the corner of the hallway, is an alcove with vending machines and a door that's been boarded off by scraps of wood and small sheets of metal. On the floor, now soaked in water, are a couple sleeping bags, pairs of shoes, and several duffel bags, probably left behind by people that had come to the station as a refuge. 'Also probably dead'. You shake your head again. These thoughts aren't helping you keep calm.

Leon puts up his hand again, telling you to wait. He leans around the corner for a moment, then waves for you to follow. It's a slow process as you make your way down the hall, and you can't help but worry about the officer you had seen on the camera. At the same time, you are incredibly grateful for Leon's caution, knowing it will save your life at some point.

Ahead of you the harsh florescent lights in the ceiling are flickering occasionally, brief flashes of light, like lightning, illuminating the room. There is more camping gear littering the ground, an electric lamp on a stool, still lit. There is a large white double door on the left. You stop automatically, knowing by now Leon's pattern, and wait for him to check the door. It opens and you hold you breath, waiting to hear the gunshots. After looking around Leon waves you forward and you walk into the room.

This must be the press room. In the sizable room is a large empty floor, happily void of water, with a low wooden platform at the back, and a sort of podium where multiple people can sit, a bunch of microphones on the desk in front of the chairs. On the front of the podium is a plaque that reads "Raccoon Police" with the emblem stamped in between the words. Around the room are more sleeping bags and supplies and several piles of large black trash bags. On the floor in front of the podium are several smashed cameras, like there had been a struggle during a press conference. You'd hazard a guess it was caused by comic book monsters.

The most startling find in the room, however, is a dead body lying on it's face. Leon slowly and quietly walked towards it and nudged it's foot. When it didn't move he kept going until he reached the opposite wall, where another boarded up door was, along with a light switch. He flicked it on and the room was now, amazingly, filled with light.

"Nothing like dark hallways to fray your nearly severed nerves." You mumble taking another look around the room. Leon goes to take a closer look at the corpse while you wander onto the stage. The hollow thump of your feet on the wood makes you nervous, but you continue snooping around. There are a few books and pens scattered across the desk, and a legal pad with notes on it; nothing very interesting.

You were about to continue on when your foot hits a briefcase with a dull thunk. You freeze when you see it. The warn handle, the dull brass clasps, and the little rough spot on the top corner where the leather never quite recovered after a Care Bears sticker was placed there by mischievous little hands.

This was your uncle's lawyer's briefcase.

Heart pounding, you pick it up, quietly shove the clutter on the desk aside and place the case on it. You run your thumb over the name plate, 'Edmund Turner', a million memories flooding your brain. He was the one that helped your uncle get custody of you. In truth, your uncle had been more of a father to you, and this man had been more of an uncle. He came over to your house most Saturdays and stoically suffered through all of your cooking experiments. The panicked words of his letter came back to you as you opened the case, which was thankfully unlocked.

Inside were multiple legal pads with notes written in Ed's handwriting, much of it in shorthand that would take a lot of sifting through to make any kind of sense. Under that were several case files, one labeled 'Top Secret'. You can't imagine how Ed had gotten this, but before you could open the folders, you saw the next paper, chilling your veins. Your uncle's death certificate.

You'd seen it before, right after he died, but you never looked closely at it. You had known he was dying, and what was killing him. What was the point of reading the piece of paper that made it final? Taking a deep breath, you set it aside for the moment to see the rest of the contents.

A few folders are filled with medical information; lists of medications, treatment options, charts filled with names of doctors and nurses, and a DNR signed by your uncle, stating he didn't want to be brought back if his lungs or heart stopped. Fighting back the memories of the day he signed that paper, and the argument that proceeded it, you shuffle through the medical documents.

Your brows knit, 'How did Ed get access to this information' you wonder silently, your lips moving as you read through the files. Several documents have mentioned the same name, 'Umbrella Pharmaceutical Company'. 'Wasn't that the name on the sign coming into town?' One of the documents seems to be one of the treatment plans, and after skimming through the medical jargon, you realize it was paperwork for an experimental medicine. At the bottom is your uncle's signature.

'Why wouldn't he have told me about this?' He had never mentioned anything about an experimental treatment. Looking at the date the paper was signed, it was a little over a month before he died. This must have been a last ditch effort after the other medications proved useless against his disease. A dull ache spreads in your chest at the thought of your uncle keeping this from you, making this decision on his own.

He had tried his best to shelter you from what he went through; diligently (and stubbornly) keeping track of his own medication, taking the bus, or occasionally a cab, to his appointments, because, in his words, 'There is important work to be done on the farm and you're not getting out of it that easy'. But eventually his hands couldn't open the medication bottles, he couldn't walk without someone supporting him, his limbs so fatigued that he couldn't even use his cane. At that point you had to step in and help, although he hated it. It hurt to see him like that, but you would be damned if you chickened out when he needed you.

Shaking the memories away, and blinking the tears from your eyes, you keep reading. You heart starts to beat faster as you continue on through the pages marked with Umbrella's logo-a circle, like if you looked down on an open umbrella, the panels alternating between red and white-This wasn't just some kind of new treatment, some of the dates were too far back, before your uncle had even been diagnosed. A key phrase stuck out to you, 'date of contamination'. Looking at the date, memories wash over you.

There had been some kind of leak at the ranch a few miles from your farm, making them neighbors by country standards. Your uncle had gone to help your neighbors, and secondarily make sure the water supply to your own farm wasn't tainted. He had been gone much longer than you expected, well into the night.

He was a capable man, but you couldn't help but worry, especially when he finally arrived in the wee hours of the morning with a police escort, from the sheriff of Raccoon City no less. You're uncle promised up and down that he was fine, nothing to worry about, but his eyes told a different story. He looked scared. You had never seen that look before. Not once.

He said his goodbyes to the sheriff, then went upstairs to take a shower. He was in there for ages, until the hot water ran out. You thought he went straight to bed after that, but you saw him a half hour later in the back yard burning the clothes he'd been wearing. Neither of you mentioned it the next morning, breakfast uncommonly quiet. When you carefully asked if the leak had been fixed, his eyes took on that same scared look. He explained that the contamination had been cleaned and burned, but the family that lived there was gone. Dead. Whatever the leak was had killed them. The smoke rising from their orphaned fields like a pyre had haunted your thoughts and dreams for weeks.

'Contamination'. The word echoes through your thoughts as you keep reading. With a better understanding now of what the contamination was, you look through the treatment again. It wasn't just to try to stop the cancer, it was trying to reverse the effects from that contamination. 'Contamination', it echoes again.

All thoughts immediately stop when you read through the last document, another one of Umbrella's. It was legal document, stating as long as confidentiality was upheld, there would be a cash reward. It was hush money. For the leak and, it seems, for the subsequent illness. Even with your heart aching for your uncle, you're floored by the amount. There are a lot of zeroes. The last paragraph brings more tears to your eyes. It is signed by your uncle, and under that line are instructions for the money to be paid out...to you.

You feel tears fall down your cheeks, but the liquid seems cold compared to the burning rage turning your vision red. That company. They knew, _they knew _they had caused his illness, and they paid off the only person that knew it was their fault. A dark part of you wonders why they didn't just kill him when they had the chance, that family had died...'Oh god, that family, did they-?'__

__You close down the thought. You can't help them now. But there had to be a reason Ed had all this information. All together, this was damning evidence of Umbrella's fuck-up, and then cover-up. His letter...he said there was something important he needed to talk to you about that he couldn't say over the phone, it had to be in person. This must have been it. So why was all this here, and where was-?_ _

__"Hey [Yn], I don't think this guy was one of those things." Leon's voice breaks through your enraged thoughts, "It's hard to tell because he's obviously been here several days since he died, but...I don't know. Seems like he was human when he died." He's quiet for a moment, "Looks like he was shot in the back."_ _

__Your body jerks as you stand up straight. 'No. Nononono...' You slowly walk around the podium to look at the body on the floor. Your hand flies to your mouth as you choke back a sob. The mans' skin is stretched tight against the bones of his face, like a mummy in a museum, and his eyes are clouded in death. But you know. You still know._ _

__"Ed," you barely get the name out before another sob cuts you off. His blood is smeared along the floor from the door to where his body lays now at the foot of the podium. His hands are bloody, fingers shaped into claws liked he'd died after dragging himself across the room. You walk closer to him and your knees give out as another sob racks through your chest._ _

__"[Yn], are you alright? What happened?" Leon's voice is frantic, hand on your shoulder._ _

__"They killed him, they killed him." You're not sure how coherent your words are, but Leon seems to understand either way. You wrap your arms around your waist and let the tears fall as the hand on your shoulder rubs comforting circles into your back._ _

__"This is someone you knew?" Leon asks gently. Words are beyond you, so you just nod. "You said 'they killed him', who killed him?" You shake your head, still unable to speak. "It's ok, take your time. Does it have anything to do with that paper?" You hadn't noticed until now that you still held the hush money document, now slightly crumpled in your hand. You nod again and hold it out to him with a shaking hand. He takes it and begins skimming through it._ _

__"This looks like a payoff. From Umbrella Pharmaceuticals to Bruno..." he trails off before meeting your gaze, "This is your last name. This was about your uncle?" Your emotions finally coming back under control, you nod again, taking a shaky breath, you're finally able to speak._ _

__"Looking through these files, I learned that the cancer didn't just come from nowhere. It came from something that Umbrella did. I remember there being some kind of clean-up not far from our farm. The family that owned the land were killed by some kind of contaminant, and the people that came to clean it up torched everything. My Uncle Bruno had gone to help with the clean-up. He was there. It seems whatever leaked made him sick. I'm not even sure it was actually cancer now that I've seen these files. I don't know where Bruno even got treatment, he never let me go with him. I always thought he was just protecting me from seeing him so sick, but now..." You trail off, slowly shaking your head as you look down at Ed's empty, lifeless form. Leon's watching your face, and it feels like he can read every thought like it's printed on your skin._ _

__"You found these files in that briefcase?" Leon continues after your nod of confirmation, "The case belonged to him?" Leon gestures with a tilt of his head towards Ed's body. You close your eyes and nod again._ _

__"This is Ed Turner. Or was. He was Bruno's lawyer, but he was also family. He helped Bruno get custody of me, watched me grow up. He was like another uncle." You take a few deep breaths and swallow noisily, trying to keep your emotions under control. "He must have been given this document along with Bruno's will, and after looking it over got suspicious. I don't know how long he's been digging for this information, but he has a strong case against Umbrella, enough proof to cause them a lot of trouble."_ _

__"Evidence is only effective when the information gets to the right people." Leon looks up to the briefcase, still sitting on the podium. "If he was in here with the information, he was probably going to go public with it."_ _

__You look around for a moment, at all the cameras and microphones set up for a press brief, most likely for an emergency announcement as well. "Someone must have found out what he was doing and stopped him. Goddammit..." You scrub angrily at the fresh tears falling with the back of your hand. Taking another look at Ed, you see the corner of a red box sticking out from his jacket pocket. You carefully lift it out. It's bullets, but you don't see his gun or holster on him._ _

__You stand, box in hand, "We can worry about this later. Right now we still need to find that officer before it's too late, we've already wasted too much time here." As you speak you walk back to the briefcase and run you fingers along the seam on the inside edge, making a triumphant noise when you find the secret switch that releases the false bottom. Inside was Ed's hip holster and Smith and Wesson. You take the gun and run your thumb over the wood of the handle, two dates clumsily carved into it at the base. One for when Ed first shot it, and one for you. You take the holster and attach it to your belt and slide the gun into it, nodding to Leon. "Let's go."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...damn this chapter just really got away from me. Over 4,700 words? For what I had originally planned, the part of story I was going to cover, I now am having to split it into three chapters :P So more work for me, but more reading for you! Huzzah! But don't you worry friends, I am still committed to writing this story! I'll warn you now, cannon is going to be melted down in the fiery furnace of creation, and come out...however I write it XD We'll find out together what madness is ruminating in my brain. Mwahaha


	7. Officer in Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning the tragic news of your families demise, you and Leon venture forward to find and save the missing officer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! OMG! I finally did it! I updated a story! I'm...really friggin proud of how this chapter turned out. I'm sorry it took forever, and it means a lot that there are still some of you waiting for more. I hope you like it as much as I do :D
> 
> Warning: This chapter is really gross. I had a lot of fun describing blood and guts. If you're squeamish....I'm sorry. This is a zombie story, and I have way too much fun filling in the details of entrails, and believe it or not, I actually toned it down a little :P This chapter isn't super necessary to the plot, so you can skip it if you need to.

“Let’s go.” You start walking for the door, one hand resting on your newly acquired weapon, the other reaching to push open the swinging door that you now see has several bullet holes in it. Before your fingers reach the wood you feel a hand on your shoulder.

You flinch slightly. Not out of fear- the warm hand with the light grip could only be Leon- but because you were nervous of what he would say. Would he say he was sorry? You had had many people say they were sorry after your uncle passed. Not that it wasn’t appreciated when it was genuine, but you weren’t sure if you were ready to hear another sorry. You had so much new and confusing information about your uncles’ death, and now another member of your small, now nonexistent, family was lying behind you, in a pool of his own blood, in the middle of hell. So you take a deep breath, then turn to look from the hand on your shoulder back to meet Leon’s gaze.

“I understand the urgency, but can you let me lead still?” His eyes are soft and he has a small reassuring smile on his face, but not a trace of the pity you feared. “You did pinky promise after all. I’m in charge.” His smile widens into a grin, but you can tell he’s worried about stepping over a line trying to lighten the mood. You return the smile and feel the tension ease from your shoulders in relief.

“Damn, I did say that didn’t I? Alright, go ahead.” You wave for him to go first, stepping out of the way so he can get to the door. As he walks passed, you put a gentle hand on his arm. “Leon?” Meeting his questioning gaze, you continue, “Thank you.” He smiles warmly at you and nods, and you can tell he understands the feeling. You wonder what he’s been through, who he’s lost, that gave him that experience. Maybe someday you’ll ask him.

“Alright [Yn], you ready?” His words break through your thoughts. You nod, taking your gun out of the holster and gripping it tightly, pointing towards the ground, finger beside the trigger.

“Ready.”

The door swings open quietly into the dark hallway. Leon flicks his eyes around the room, then turns on his flashlight to get a better look. He steps into the hallway after motioning you to stay put. You hear him whisper words under his breath, “You got this.” You smile, but decide not to acknowledge the comment, pretty sure that you weren’t supposed to hear it. It’s endearing that he’s putting on a brave front for your sake, and beyond adorable that he’s giving himself a quiet pep talk. He comes back a moment later and opens the door further for you to follow him, and you struggle to hide the smile.

Leon steps quietly, leading you down the hallway, the only noise in your movements the slight slap of your shoes in the water still coating the floor. Turning left from the Press Room door, you are immediately stopped by a large metal cabinet with bullet holes in the side that had fallen forward at some point, blocking the path. There is a small triangle of space under the cabinet that you and Leon could manage to crawl through, so you mentally groan and prepare yourself to scramble under another obstacle. But your apprehension turns out to be unnecessary.

Leon walks forward and gets one hand under the cabinet and one on top and starts shifting it. It moves slightly and he moves so both hands are under it and heaves, pushing the structure back with a grunt of effort and sheer strength. You blink and close your mouth, which definitely didn’t fall open after that display. Nope.

‘That was so fucking cool!’ You shake your head to get your thoughts moving again, but freeze when you hear a quiet laugh.

“Thanks, I work out.” You feel your face heat up. ‘Oh god, I said that out loud!’ You open your mouth to say something to dull your embarrassment, but finding nothing you close it again and instead look at your feet and kick at the water. Another laugh has you looking back up, and you can see a light blush on Leon’s cheeks, illuminated by the lamplight. Well, at least you’re both awkward. The moment passes as Leon leads the way, bringing his gun up, ready to defend against more monsters.

The hall ahead dead ends and splits, a corridor leads left to the bathrooms, where the water covering the floor seems to be coming from the women’s bathroom judging by the steady flow visibly moving debris on the floor along with it. The corridor passed the bathroom is blockaded by objects of circumstance; a couch, chairs, school desks, and scraps of wood baring the way.

Continuing on passed the blocked passage, Leon leads you to the right, rounding the corner with caution. His steps falter, but since he makes no move to stop you, you step next him and freeze.

The hall ends with a small waiting room that wraps around a desk built into the corner of the wall from the next room, creating a window to work through. The waiting room is a chaotic mess of gore, several bodies splayed out on the floor in various positions, as if they slumped to the ground and never moved. A few were officers, based on their clothing, several others are wearing normal, casual clothes, and all of them were spattered and stained with blood. Not one of them moved at the sound of your footsteps.

“Jesus…” Leon mutters under his breath, sounding just as shocked and repulsed as you feel. After a moment he continues on, checking a door to the right, rattling the handle softly, then gingerly making his way through the mess and passing the bodies, giving each of them a wary look before placing the next foot.

As distressed as you feel, it surprises you that no nausea is accompanying your anxiety. A part of you is concerned with how fast you seem to be adapting to this environment of death, but at least you aren’t puking up the meager contents of your stomach. Putting these thoughts aside, you follow after Leon, giving your own concerned glare to the bodies around you. Just as you round the corner of the room, a scream tears through the silence.

“OPEN UP! HURRY! OPEN UP!” A wrecked voice, slightly muffled, is coming from the office next to you, and by looking through the window you can see another rolling shutter door blocking off the other doorway from the office, rattling as something or someone beats on the other side. “OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR!”

Leon glances to you, then to the surrounding bodies before hurrying for the door on your side of the office, thankfully unlocked. The banging becomes deafening as you enter the room. Leon hastily moves around a desk in the middle of the room, kneeling to lift the bottom of the shutter.

“Hold on! I’ll get you out!” Leon heaves the door open with a growl, two hands reaching out from the other side, the person trying to crawl through the small space. Once there is enough room Leon reaches for the struggling man.

“HELP ME! PLEASE! HELP ME!”

“Gimme your hand!” Leon grasps the man’s wrist and begins to tug, “I got you,” you run over to help. “Gimme your other hand!” The man turns over onto his back, reaching for Leon, holding on tight as he is dragged into the room. Just as you reach for his vest to help pull, a familiar shriek comes from the other side of the door...too close.

The man screams in agony and a burst of blood shoots from just beyond the door. Sickening squelches and the sound of tearing fabric fill the air and you freeze in fear.

“Hang in there!” Leon continues to pull the officer, caught in a tug of war with the creature on the other side. With a last strong heave the man is pulled into the room, and you can’t hold back your scream of terror.

“Jesus Christ!” Leon kneels on the floor over the officer, hands gripping his shoulders, staring in horror at the bottom half, or the lack thereof, of the man before him. Beneath the man’s ribs is nothing but carnage; blood swathed along the path Leon had dragged him, the rest of him lying unmoving just beyond the edge of the door.

Blood quickly drained from the man’s face, him movements stilling, his face going slack. Stunned, terrified tears run down your face, your breathing loud in your ears as you watch Leon’s hand hover uselessly over the body. Banging on the metal door draws Leon’s attention and he glances up. The door has slid back down from the rattling, giving you a moment of relative peace.

Your eyes are unable to leave the face of the dead officer before you, but you notice Leon picking something off the floor before walking over to you. You know he’s watching you, waiting for a response, but you are frozen, shocked beyond words, beyond actions, beyond thoughts. The only thing running through your mind was a loop of the man’s screams echoing in the small room.

“[Yn] we need to go, it’s not safe here.” You distantly acknowledge Leon’s words, but remain rooted in place. After a few silent moments you feel a hand on your shoulder, drawing a barely audible squeak from your throat. You flinch and look behind you, to the apologetic look on Leon’s face, not doing much to hide his own fear, “[Yn]. I’m sorry, we need to go.” You bite your lip and jerkily nod your head, clenching your fists in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

Leon retracts his hand and moves to the door as you take a few deep breaths that would otherwise be calming, if not for the metallic scent of blood, so strong you feel like you can taste it. Just before Leon can reach the door it shudders for a moment and with a loud bang opens and slams against the wall, a rotting, and somehow reanimated officer falling forward onto Leon, shoving him backwards onto the desk next to you.

“LEON!” He’s struggling against the weight and force of the creature, both hands grasping the dead man’s shoulders in an attempt to keep him away, avoiding the snapping jaws. In your moment of shock and indecision you watch in horror as the grotesque maw draws closer and begins to clamp onto the flesh of Leon’s exposed neck. Your mind flashes back to earlier in the night, the awful sight of the scrap of meat dangling from the mouth of that creature, dripping down onto the officer on the floor of that gas station. “NO!”

With a practiced precision matched only by the owner of the weapon you wield, you draw your gun and aim at the mockery of death in front of you and fire two shots, one grazing the side of the skull, the other driving straight through the eye and bursting out the back. The body immediately stops moving, slumping to the floor with a final rattle of breath.

Your breath is coming in gasps that don’t seem to be feeding you enough oxygen, your vision narrowing and going fuzzy. Your aim stayed locked on the zombie, even when it showed no sign of movement. Distantly you recognize a voice calling your name.

“[YN]! We need to move! Now!” Your gaze snaps to Leon, one hand holding his neck, the other extended to you, panic glowing in his eyes. The sound of breaking glass comes from the room you came in from and you jolt into action, following Leon, running as fast as you can without slipping on the fluids on the floor.

One zombie is crawling in through the window, another flopping on top of it as they both try to scramble in. You skirt around them, rushing to keep on the other side of the room as they drag themselves upright. You dash along with Leon, back through the hall, water splashing underfoot. Passing the Press Room door you both skid to a stop as a scream and a crash come from the next room, the door that had previously been blocked smashing onto the floor as two monsters shamble around the corner to you. You grit your teeth and aim for them, Leon doing the same, him taking the one on the left, you the one on the right. As they fall you hear the others from the room behind you screech, hands grasping for you, just out of reach. Leon grabs your wrist and pulls, leading you back to the shuttered door to the main hall.

The door is only a few inches off the ground, not nearly enough to squeeze under. Leon leans over and growls, hauling the metal up with all the power the adrenaline and fear is giving him. 

“[Yn], go! I’ll hold them off!” You drop to the ground and begin to drag yourself under the door, hands struggling to find traction on the slick, blood stained floor. The thought of being stuck under the door, just like that officer in the other room sends a fresh wave of panic through you as you fail to get any farther through the small space. You can’t even seem to get a full breath, your heaving lungs restricted by the crushing weight above you. Just as you’re giving into despair, hands grab onto the collar of your jacket and tug, dragging you forward.

You feel more than hear the blood curdling scream that tears from your lips. You screw your eyes shut, waiting for the ripping of flesh, the rending of skin, and all you can hear is Leon’s terrified voice screaming your name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering what I'm doing while I procrastinate, you can find me here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kezikatescribbling


	8. You're safe...for now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chased by zombies, trapped under a door, dragged away from your friend, about to meet certain doom. That's where we left off, right? Cool. Let's see what happens now.

Your pulse is pounding in your ears, drowning out everything around you as you are dragged away from the relative safety of Leon’s presence. Every muscle is clenched and quivering, waiting for the first bite, the first scrape of teeth that will spell your messy, painful end.

You flinch in surprise when, instead of the violence you are expecting, you are suddenly dropped as whatever was holding your collar lets go. You fall forward, barely managing to catch yourself before your face hits the hard stone floor, your palms hitting with a smack, your breath leaving in a cough of surprise.

Heavy footsteps move away from you, back towards the broken door and you twist your body, prop yourself up on one elbow to look behind you. Leon is on the floor, growling in effort and straining to lift the shutter up with his shoulders enough to crawl under. Once he’s halfway through, dead hands and a bloody face descend on him, grabbing at his legs and pulling itself up Leon’s body, attempting to latch lingers and teeth onto skin.

“Goddammit!” Leon’s fist hits the ground in exasperated fear, trying in vain to shake off the zombie. The man that you now know was responsible for dragging you to safety reaches Leon, gets a hand under his arm, and pulls him away from the monster and out from under the door. “Watch out!”

“Got it!” You both watch as the man walks back to the door, braces his foot on the lip, and slams the metal down onto the zombie’s head with a disgusting and resounding crunch, blood and chunks of what you assume to be brain matter splattering in all directions.

There is a shocked moment of silence and heavy breathing before Leon spins, coming up on one knee and frantically looking around before meeting your gaze. You see his shoulders deflate in relief once he sees you’re safe before he drags himself the short distance to pull you into his arms and crush you to his chest, burying his face in your hair. You take a moment to feel this, this safety and comfort of knowing you’re together and not in immediate danger.

Leon pulls away and flicks his eyes over you, “Are you ok? Are you hurt?” His hands hover over you, as if he’s suddenly afraid that he’ll hurt you.

“I’m fine. I’m ok,” Leon is still looking you over for injuries, as if trying to determine if any of the blood soaking into your clothes is yours, so you take one of his hands in yours and gently squeeze. He meets your gaze and finally seems to breathe, “I’m ok.” He closes eyes for a moment before gathering you up in his arms again with a little less urgency, one hand on the back of your head, holding you to him.

“You’re getting more blood on you,” you point out, voice muffled by your face pressed into the side of his neck.

“Don’t care.” His soft reply held so much quiet honesty that you just let the moment be, not bothering to reply, just soak in the warmth of another human being. A moment later a pained grown and the banging of the shutter draws your attention, the man that saved you leaning against the door and clutching his bloodied side before he speaks.

“You’re safe...For now.”

Leon doesn’t let go of you, but turns to address the man, “Thanks.” The simple word wasn’t nearly enough, but Leon’s voice expressed the heartfelt gratitude to make up for it.

“Marvin Branagh. “ The man introduces himself, and you take the time to look him over. He’s wearing a police uniform with a large piece missing on his right side, covered in blood. Even with his hand holding the area, you can see a bandage soaked in red, barely covering a large wound where skin and a good amount of muscle have been stripped away from his body. He looks tired, exhausted, the lines on his face etched deep like scars, showing his lack of rest and the agony from his wound. His dark skin is drained of blood and you worry about the amount that he’s likely lost from the gash in his side.

“Leon Kennedy...There was another officer...I-I couldn't...I couldn’t…” Leon releases the rest of his breath and for a moment holds you tighter, and you squeeze back in an attempt to comfort him. Marvin steps forward and extends a hand.

“Here,” Leon looks to his hand for a moment, then helps you to get up before taking the offered hand, letting Marvin pull him to his feet. “I’m sure you did what you could Leon.”

Leon takes the comment without reply, but you can tell he’s not sure he agrees by the look he gives you with troubled, haunted eyes. You smile, which you hope is reassuring, if tired. His lips twitch up, but they fall just as fast, and it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“You two looked soaked through. The chest behind the front counter has your uniform Leon, and [Yn] there was another new officer that was about your size, I’m sure the uniform in there will fit you, maybe a little loose though.” Marvin gestures tiredly to the front desk then limps over to a couch behind the partition.

Leon heads over to the chest, glancing over his shoulder to make sure you were following. He opens it and finds the clothes, passing the smaller ones to you before digging to the bottom of the box to take out two bulletproof vests, knee and elbow pads and boots. Luckily there was also fresh, dry socks, although it was too much to hope for to find underwear. Yours are still a little wet from laying on the grown in the courtyard earlier, but you’ll have to make due.

“I have radio equipment for you up here when you’re dressed.” You hear Marvin call from over the wall. You and Leon grab your respective pile of clothes and stand awkwardly for a moment looking at each other. You’re not sure what your face looks like, but you can feel the heat creeping up, and Leon is looking a little pinker than he was a minute ago.

“Umm…” He looks around for a moment then gestures across the room, “I’ll...be over there. I’ll meet back with you and Marvin when you’re done.” He awkwardly shuffles to the other side of the room and ducks behind an abandoned medical screen divider, and you do the same on your side.

Peeling off the wet clothes is a bit challenging, especially with your sore arm, but you manage without too much trouble, only a few hisses of discomfort. The uniform fits for the most part, the pants a little baggy and the shoes too small, but your steel-toed work boots, though a little soggy, will get the job done. After a moment of thought you slip back into your leather jacket before adding the tactical vest. It may be wet, but it would stop teeth from breaking through your skin, only leaving crushing damage from the powerful jaws of the dead.

You pat yourself down, making sure everything is in its place. The utility belt Leon handed you is a bit more practical for the situation than your work belt, so you slide off your knife and gun holsters and transfer them to the new one. You also opt for the stronger flashlight than the one you had brought with you, slipping that into one of the slots on the belt. Once your checks were done you rounded the screen and waited for Leon, deciding that you would wait here instead of going to Marvin.

You wait several minutes, but when you hadn’t heard any shuffling from Leon’s side of the room for a while, you slowly walked over, not wanting to startle him. Once you’re close you call quietly, “Leon? You ok over there?” When no answer comes you can’t help a slight surge of panic, worried that he might have gotten a serious injury without you noticing. “Leon?”

You peek around the curtain to see Leon wearing the new uniform pants and boots, but still sitting bare chested, holding his shirt. You blush at walking in on him before he’s dressed, but the look on his face keeps you from darting away.

He looks mostly blank, but you can see a storm raging in his eyes, even from a few steps away, and they look a little glassy. His jaw flexes for a moment before he closes his eyes, hands tightening on the fabric.

“Leon?” He startels a little, turning to look at you in surprise, but his eyes don’t look any less troubled. “You ok?” He gives you a sad smile and nods, dropping his head.

“Yeah. Just...not how I imagined my first day, you know?”

You walk around the curtain and kneel in front of him, returning the smile and putting a hand on his knee before you notice the blood running down the shoulder that was hidden from you.

“Jesus Leon, your neck!” Your hand shifts, but you don’t touch the bloody, obvious indentations of teeth, not wanting to aggravate the wound any further and not holding any supplies to actually help.

“It’s ok [Yn], it’s not really that bad.” His words are barely out before you’re moving, dashing around the room to find helpful materials.

“Like hell it’s not! Don’t move.” You spot a can of first aid spray and a couple rolls of bandages and tape, grabbing them and jogging back over.

“[Yn] really, I’m fi-”

“Shut up.” His mouth snaps shut as he watches you prepare the bandages, tearing off a few pieces to clean the wound, and another few to cover it once you’re done.

“[Yn]-” You give him your best, what your Uncle called your ‘glare to freeze over hell’ look and watch with satisfaction as Leon visibly gives in and lets you work in silence.

You spray a bit of the medicine on a bit of gauze and gently place it on the wound, smiling apologetically when winces. You dab at the blood, trying your best to clean the area without causing anymore damage or pain than necessary. The whole time Leon studies you, his face unreadable.

After the first bandage is saturated with blood, you grab the next one and continue your work, glancing up to meet Leon’s gaze. Your hands stop for a moment and you smile softly, patting his knee before going back to work. Leon looks...amused? But lets you continue without comment.

Once the wound is as clean as it’s going to get with your meager supplies, you tape a bit of gauze to keep the wound clean and staunch any further bleeding. You pat the area down with your palm, making sure all the tape is stuck in place, but stop when Leon places his hand over yours.

“Thank you [Yn].” You grin and push some of the hair out of his face.

“Anytime.” You hold his gaze for a moment before leaning back and throwing his shirt on him. “Now put a shirt on, you’re distracting me.” He laughs and extricates himself from the fabric and gives you a wicked look.

“Distracting huh?” He raises a brow when your face flushes.

“I thought I told you to shut up.” Without waiting for a response you march up the ramp to Marvin, ignoring the delicious laughter and the amused reply.

“Yes Honorary Officer [Ln]...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just...writing so much fluff, I'm so soft right now y'all. Real doki diki energy. (Not like the video game, we get trauma from zombies here, not teenage angst)

**Author's Note:**

> I started this work on Wattpad, but after finding AO3 I wanted to post here too. This is a work in progress that if I'm honest, I'm not sure I can finish. I will do my best, but finishing projects has never been my strong suit. Comments are welcome, I love hearing what you think! Hope you like it.


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